The present invention relates to measurement of fluid pressure, more particularly to fluid pressure measurement involving high variations in fluid pressure, such as characterizing fluid pressure on an underwater vehicle moving through a great range of water depths.
It is often desirable to take measurements of changes in pressure when conducting model testing of marine vehicles. For instance, one or more pressure gauges may be needed to measure changes in fluid pressure on the surface of a moving underwater model of an underwater vehicle. The subject model may be made to be representative of any of a variety of underwater vehicular types, whether large or small, manned or unmanned, fully autonomous or semi-autonomous or remotely operated.
A typical key requirement for measuring fluid pressure changes on underwater model surfaces is the capability of measuring such changes accurately within an extensive range of water depths. For instance, an investigator may seek to compare, at depth, the pressure on the surface of the model at test speed to the nominal pressure of the surrounding water environment. In these types of model testing, the depths required by the model may create a pressure differential that is orders of magnitude above the desired range of measurement.
Known methodologies for measuring pressure changes on underwater models at great depths are complicated, cumbersome, and expensive. For example, a conventional approach to performing differential pressure measurement involves attachment of a hose to the reference side of each of numerous gauges. All of the hoses are run to either a singular reference tank, or to the top side of the underwater model. According to this conventional practice, every hose must be checked for leaks and bubbles. As the number of gauges increases, so does the complexity of running, checking, and testing of all of the hoses. Accordingly, model testing contemplated for a particular model may require far too many gauges for such a system to be feasible.